Custom Fit Roof Rack Kit With TH145046 | TH710501 | TH712400

Video Transcript for Thule WingBar Evo Roof Rack Installation - 2022 Toyota Tacoma

Hey everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today we're gonna be taking a look at the Thule Roof Rack with extra long crossbars and how it fits on our 2022 Toyota Tacoma. So if you wanna carry around fun accessories usually you'd use your truck bed and or your ladder rack for that. But sometimes maybe your truck bed is full or your ladder rack is full or it's just not what you're lookin' for. You might be lookin' for a roof rack system. With this, you can still carry things like kayaks, roof boxes, roof baskets.

This is gonna be my special recommendation fit though. So, Thule recommends the 53 inch long crossbar. I actually recommend the 60 inch long crossbar, because of the extra overhang. Overhang is measured from your tower to right before the end cap, so I have it at four inches of length. And that's a lot of space, or a good amount of space for things like a clamp, if you wanna get it closer to the end.

It makes it easier to reach your cargo or put cargo on top of your roof rack. The downside to too much overhang though, is when you get into your vehicle, some people tend to hit their heads against the roof rack. In the case though, for the Tacoma with it being taller or higher up, not as likely to happen. So this is a roof rack for your naked roof which means you don't have any rails or fixed mounting points. It just sits there on your roof.

And because of that you cannot move this back and forth. So you're fixed to a crossbar spread of 27 and a half inches. That's measured from the front of one crossbar to the front of the other. Most accessories will fit inside this spread. Just double check yours.

There's two roof height clearances. One is how much space do you have for clamps that go underneath the crossbar That's measured from top of the roof to bottom of the crossbar, two and three quarter inches. Next is what is the height of the roof rack Top of the roof to top of the crossbar, let's say about four inches. And that measurement is also important to see if you have garage door clearance and if you have a ladder rack, what height you need to set your ladder rack to. So this is the WingBar Evo crossbar, and that's because it is designed to be more aerodynamic, compared to your round and square crossbars. You also have this end cap that flips up, to give you access inside your T channels if you wanna use T-track mounted accessories. The wind strips are kind of cool for that because they split apart to let the accessory through. But I've noticed that when they're out in the sun some wear and tear does tend to happen. Now for the towers, those are the Evo towers which make them very low profile and aerodynamic as well. This does have a cap for the towers with a plastic lock. Now this lock is sturdy on its own, but I can use the end of my keys or a flathead screwdriver to open it up. This gives you access into the towers to tighten it down. And with the included tool, you can loosen, reinstall, uninstall your tower system. This has a custom fit kit for your Tacoma. So notice how it fits around the contours of your door. That's why it's very important to use our fit guide here at etrailer, because this is all kitted together, the crossbars, plus the towers, plus your fit kit. We can make sure you get the correct combination of the three for your vehicle. With a 220 pound weight capacity, this makes for a strong system on the top of your roof. Now, you also have the option to get this in silver if you want to. And, if you do like the look, but maybe you want something more low profile, you can get this with the 53 inch long crossbars instead. They are all gonna install the exact same way and work the exact same way. Now the install process might look a little confusing and involved at first, but I'm gonna guide you through it. Let's go. So there are a lot of different parts included with this kit, and it might look a little confusing, like why are the hooks different numbers, why do we have different pads Where's the right Where's the left Well, I'm gonna guide you through that process. We are gonna install the front crossbar together. Start by prepping the bar. First you need to install the wind strips onto your bar. And then once those are installed, we're gonna flip this crossbar over. Take the end cap out by pressing in and then pulling out. And now you have your open T-track channel. We are going to move our little measuring strip on the inside here to the correct number for your bar. Now you're moving that measuring strip so that you can get the tower to the right distance. For example, for our front crossbar, that has to be at 46 and a half. Well now you get your tower. So the way you do this is you pinch that metal plate on the inside, that allows the top piece to move up. And that gives you clearance to slide the tower in through the crossbar. Go all the way up to where you measured. So you're gonna get the pad that matches, whether it's the front driver's side or the rear driver's side. Here the front passenger side needs to be number 338. So that pad fits onto the towers. So you've got little tabs in there, so it fits around the tabs and then it clicks in. So keep pushin', until it's fully seated. So how do you know which one's the passengers which one's the driver's side Well, notice how the bar is shaped. You want the taller portion facing the front, the tapered portion facing the end. Once you have all those rubber pads on there you can then gently set it onto your roof. You also have a measurement in your fit kit for how far back the tower needs to go. For example, for our front crossbar, it needs to be 12 and a half inches. And this is measured from the front windshield all the way to the front of the tower. Do that for both sides. Now installing the hook is gonna be a slightly unique process for the truck. 'Cause you need pull this window seal down. Fortunately, that's very easy to do. And you just pull at it, and you're not taking off any clips or anything. Now bring your hook forward. And you're just gonna slide this from underneath into the tower. Now push up, (cap clicking), until you hear it click like that. And you can also confirm that it sits flush against your doors contours. Once you've done that on both sides, you can then push up on the windowsill. So this may need a little bit of pressure to get into place. But then once that's in place, you then get your tool, included with your roof rack, and tighten it down evenly. (tightening clamp) So what I mean by evenly is that whenever I do roof racks I try to do I'd say half on one side, go back to the other side, and go back and forth. That way as you tighten down the clamp, you're not pulling the whole system one way to the other. Your included tool is actually a torque tool, so it's to prevent over tightening. Once you get to the proper tension, I have it click twice like a gas cap. Plus it prevents you from tightening it further. Once all four towers are tightened down, your next step is to put the end caps on. So there's an end cap for the crossbars. Those pop in. And then there's an end cap for the towers. So these fit in from the top. So push them down, and those snap into place. If you have metal lock cores, this is a good time to switch out your plastic lock cores. Now these can be locked, and I use a flathead screwdriver or the back of a key to move that out. And then that secures our tower end cap. (tapping end cap) Now just double check all of your towers and all of your crossbars. Make sure everything is locked and secured. And that's it for the install. So hopefully this video helped you out with seeing what different features the roof rack might have, and what features might interest you. I still recommend the 60 inch long crossbars because then you get more crossbar space. You do not get more weight capacity or crossbar spread though. So it really is up to the look of what you're going for, as well as what kind of accessories or cargo you're going to be carrying around. I do recommend taking a look, though, at the same or the one key system, where you can just use one key to access everything. And see if you can get it matched with your other Thule accessories. Otherwise, I would recommend something like an Inno roof rack, which already has keys included. But that one has a completely different look. So, definitely check out our website and compare the pictures and product pages to find the right fit for you. And that was a look at our Thule Roof Rack with the 60 inch long WingBar Evo crossbars, the Evo clamp feet, and the custom fit kit for your 2022 Toyota Tacoma.